Publisher Sold Out and developer Piranha Games have announced MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries expansion “Legend of the Kestrel Lancers” and the free “Melee” update. Both will launch across all available platforms on September 23.

The companies also announced that physical editions of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries are due out for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in November. More information will be announced at a later date.

Get the details below.

■ “Legend of the Kestrel Lancers” Expansion

About

The Legend of the Kestrel Lancers expansion departs from the sandbox structure seen in past campaigns and offers a more story-focused experience set during the “Fourth Succession War,” one of the most famous conflicts in BattleTech lore featuring 14 missions and seven “Battle Quests” featuring large-scale conflicts set on custom battle grounds. Improved urban warfare also awaits with Mega Cities that are significantly larger than any Urban Centers previously seen in the MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries. In addition, players can look forward to more All-Out War scenarios, designed to make your hulking squad of building-sized ‘Mechs feel like part of a larger force in the field. All this comes with over 20 new Mech variants, new Jungle and Tourmaline Desert biomes, and a wide array of procedurally generated missions to take Mech warfare to the next level.

Key Features

• Story Rich Campaign – Set during the “Fourth Succession War,” one of the most famous periods of conflict in BattleTech lore, players can look forward to an epic 14-mission campaign complete with custom dialogue.
• Urban Warfare – Explore and destroy Mega Cities significantly larger than any Urban Centers previously in the MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries
• All-Out War – These grand-scale scenarios are designed to make the player feel like their Mercenary company is part of a larger force at play on the field of combat.
• New Biomes – The operatic scope of the campaign’s original story calls for equally impressive environments. Players can look forward to exploring new Mega City, Jungle, and Tourmaline Desert biomes on their journey across the galaxy.
• Expansion Sharing – Piranha Games has adopted a more generous approach to sharing expansion content. Anyone can experience the entirety of the “Legend of the Kestrel Lancers” campaign as long as the host owns the expansion.

■ Melee Update

About

Players can also look forward to a free update to the base game, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries adding significant first-in-series features, including the introduction of Melee Combat! For the first time in MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, players will be able to get up-close and personal with rival Mechs with the ability to swing and punch. In addition, for the first time, players will be able to switch between any of the AI-controlled Lance ‘Mechs on a mission. This seemingly small update introduces huge impacts on gameplay, essentially allowing the player to bounce between direct control of each Mech in their squad with the push of a button.

Key Features

• Melee Combat – For the first-time, players will be able to swing and punch with close quarters mech-on-mech combat.
• Mech Switching – Take on full direct control of any AI-controlled Lance ’Mechs in any mission with the press of a button.

Patch Notes

• Heads-Up Display Revisions
• • New updated art treatment.
  • Moved map to bottom center.
  • Refactored the Action Panel—now has icons and text.
  • You can toggle text tooltips in Gameplay Options on the Action Panel for a streamlined icons-only Action Panel.
  • Different panel treatments for cockpit view and third-person view.
  • Changed some colors to support better identification of lance mates and allied forces vs objective colors.
• Melee
• • You can now punch that other guy’s ‘Mech… right… in… the… face.
  • You can direct your punches to different locations on enemy ‘Mechs.
  • Great for close-quarters combat, or when attacking would otherwise overheat you.
  • These melee punch weapons are permanently fixed to ‘Mechs that have hand or lower arm actuators and have no associated repair costs.
  • Melee mapped to weapon group five and adjusted to accommodate face button mapping on gamepad.
• Switch ‘Mech
• • You can switch ‘Mech for various different strategic outcomes. Swap into your light ‘Mech to scout ahead, then pop back into your brawler when combat starts or into your LRM boat to provide fire cover.
  • Mapped to Y on mouse + keyboard or accessible from Action Panel on gamepad.
• New Audio
• • Added additional menu user interface sound effects.
  • Improved VTOL engine sound effects.
  • VTOL air explosions and crashing sound effects are more audible.
  • Explosion sound effects are more audible.
  • Added sound for certain weapons cooling down and cool down complete. This was done to help reduce the amount that players need to look at their weapon cooldowns before they can fire again.
  • Added a priority system for impact sounds from enemy weapons. Enemy weapon impact sounds cause other sounds, including music, to slightly reduce in volume to help notify the player that they are being hit.
  • Minor audio mixing changes to help separate player sounds from other players.
  • Minor bugs fixes for sound effects playback issues.
  • Added new Melee arm swing and impact sound effects.
• New Gameplay Options
• • You can disable x-platform play from gameplay options.
  • You can now mirror the paper-doll for players that prefer MechWarrior Online-style paper-doll.
  • You can set the default camera view (if you prefer third-person this is very helpful).
  • You can now enable or disable vibration.
  • You can now disable or enable coop notifications.
• New Controller Configurations in the Controls Menu
• • There are now Simple, Advanced, and ‘Mech style control configurations for gamepad.
  • You can toggle left hand mode.
  • You can toggle text tooltips on the Action Panel for a streamlined heads-up display.
• New Graphics Options
• • You can now create custom safe zones or edit the safe zone area new player reporting feature.
  • Accessible from the pause screen.
• New Negotiation Upgrades
• • You can now modify negotiation points from the pre-drop screen after accepting the contract.
  • Unused negotiation points now roll over to the next mission in Multi Mission Operations.
• New Front End and Leopard Updates
• • Added visual polish to Home screen.
  • Added additional instructional text for how to play cooperative games in Campaign Mode.
  • Added new loading bars.
• New Art Updates
• • Improved the lighting in leopard, in user interface background screens, and in levels.
  • Remodeled several characters including Fahad and cooperative player models.

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is available now for Xbox Series, Xbox One, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG, and will launch for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on September 23.

Watch a set of trailers below. View a new set of screenshots at the gallery.

“Legend of the Kestrel Lancers” Teaser Trailer

“Legend of the Kestrel Lancers” Gameplay Trailer

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